The Day She Left Us
by Yuleira
Summary: It was the day when Yukiko left the Kudou residence. How do her husband and 14-year old son cope with that?


**Title: The Day she left us**

_A/N: Another One Shot! Wow, the ideas just keep coming! I should make more 2-year breaks of writing if I can write this much in short amounts of time… Anyways, I had to get this off my mind, it just wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it down. In class. Ahahaha…_

**Disclaimer: I really want to own the wonderful Kudous and Ran Mouri… But I don't. –cries in a corner-**

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><p>It was a terrible day for Yuusaku and Shinichi Kudou. His wife, his mother… Who would've thought that she would really leave them? Of course Yuusaku had to admit that he took his life as an author a little too easy and enjoyed himself from time to time, but was it really necessary for Yukiko to abandon them and leave with her friends to Los Angeles?<p>

"Dad… I think it's time you got over it," Shinichi voiced after a long moment of silence.

Yuusaku put his hands on his son's shoulders and squeezed them with little pressure. "It's okay, Shinichi. You don't need to act so tough in front of your dad. I know it's just as hard for you as it is for me."

Both of them sighed heavily.

At the same time the grandfather's clock struck 12 o'clock. Hours had passed and they still hadn't been able to get a proper day routine going. At first they had cheered and thought it would be so much more relaxing when a woman wasn't ruling in their home but after a short while they realized that they did, indeed, need her.

…What were they supposed to do now?

Yuusaku let himself fall into the cushioned chair behind his desk. Exhaling he tore at his hair. This was driving him crazy! He couldn't even concentrate on his manuscript.

A white sheet of paper was pushed across the desk. "Take a look at this, Dad. You know, maybe you should give it a try." Shinichi's voice was calm, somewhat relaxing in this situation he thought.

His blue eyes widened when his eyes swept over the black printed words. He paled and looked at his son, utterly shocked. "Are you serious…? I don't know if we should…"

His kin nodded bravely. "Ran offered to assist us if we needed any help in this situation. But I think we should try it on our own first." Shoving his hands into his pockets he thought for a moment. His bangs covered his eyes. They knew this day would come. If they wanted to stay independent they would have to get along without Yukiko Kudou someday… Even if it saddened him deeply, he had to move on.

"Alright, son, this is what we'll do." Yuusaku's deep voice rang through the library and echoed slightly.

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><p>"Good grief, Dad! How could you get this wrong!" Shinichi ranted, his voice clearly on edge. "<em>First<em> you let the water boil and _then_ you toss in the noodles! Not the other way around!" He dabbed his finger at the recipe he had showed his father just a few moments before.

His parent ruffled his hair irritably. "How can this be so… complicated! I'd rather write another manuscript than doing this!"

"No, you wouldn't." the young boy narrowed his eyes. "If you follow the steps one by one it can't be so hard—"

Meanwhile the water was boiling over and sizzled on the heating surface. A burning smell filled the kitchen and the men began to panic.

"Raise the pot, raise the pot!"

"Are you _crazy_! Why should I—"

Before things got worst Yuusaku raised the pot but didn't expect the handles to be hot. With a cry of pain he dropped it onto the floor and unfortunately over his foot and Shinichi's. They cursed for all they were worth. And when everything had cooled down and the floor had been wiped they started over again.

"Okay. First let the water boil…" The elder read out loud.

That was confirmed, Shinichi noted when he glanced into the pot. "Check."

"Then the noodles…"

He added the noodles, breaking them in half like his mother had showed him, and let them sink into the water.

"And now lower the heat."

They turned the heat down one level and waited. Nothing happened. A heavy sigh left both of their lungs. Relieved, Shinichi wiped at his forehead.

"Glad that step's over with."

Next they had to wait five minutes and then drain the noodles, at some oil and fry them with vegetables. They waited impatiently for about two minutes— tapping on the counter, pouring vodka into a glass, looking around the kitchen… Until Yuusaku straightened himself and turned around.

"Where are you going?"

"Typing down an idea for a plot, call me when the time's over!" he called when he had already left the kitchen with his glass of wine.

"Kay." Shinichi leaned against the counter and reached for a book he had placed there before they started cooking. It was a new mystery novel he had bought a day ago. He began to read, moving his lips soundlessly and it didn't take long for him to get engrossed into the story.

And of course, for the water to boil over once again.

"Oh _shit_! Not again!" He groaned and slammed the book onto the counter. Attempting to grab the handles he stopped in his tracks. Ah, no, he wouldn't do the same mistake like his dad. Learning from his mistake he grabbed two potholders and heaved the pot to the side.

"Dad!" His loud voice called through the house while he drained the noodles and exchanged the pot with a pan turning the heat back up. The heating plate was still hot, so it didn't take too long for the pan to heat up as well.

Soon after his father came trotting into the room. He saw the remains of the water on the stove and the book next to it and smirked. Shinichi just rolled his eyes, not wanting to hear any of his smart comments. Instead, he waved him to him and tapped on the recipe. The next step was to fry the noodles in a pan. That couldn't be so hard, right?

"Oookay. Three tablespoons of sesame oil." Yuusaku carefully filled a spoon with the oil and let it drip into the pan. It hissed in the pan and drops of oil shot out. "_Argh_! What the hell!" He quickly added the other two spoons of oil and jumped away, pushing an eye-rolling Shinichi towards the pan to add the noodles.

Geez, how hard could it be to actually get a proper dinner ready? This was embarrassing, really.

But when he let the noodles fall from the strainer and they broiled in the fat he felt somewhat proud. Hah! Cooking wasn't that hard at all! He grabbed a spatula and stirred. To his luck the bottom noodles started sticking to the pan and it wasn't that easy to scratch it off with the kitchen tool. Seeing his son having problems he set down his glass and grabbed the spatula—

"_Shit_!"

Did they see it coming? No.

Did expect a mysterious flame to shoot up from the pan? Absolutely not!

The flames shot up and burned part of Yuusaku's mustache and eyebrow off. If it hadn't been for the rising panic Shinichi might have bawled over laughing, but this was serious!

"What the _hell_!"

"Quick, quick! Do something!"

"What am I supposed to do? Oh, shit!"

The kitchen was smoking up.

Yuusaku did the first thing that came to his mind and threw the pan into the sink. He turned the water up full blast while Shinichi tore the windows open. Ah, fresh air…

For a moment they stared at the pan and thought about their failure at cooking. They would definitely never cook again.

"Maybe I should… call Ran and tell her to come over?" The young Kudou voiced. He watched his father shrug his shoulders.

"Sure, if you want to."

He inwardly cheered. After all of this mess it was relaxing to have his best friend here. He pulled out his phone and dialed the number he had been calling for years.

"Moshi moshi?" Ran's voice sounded quite cheery.

"Hey Ran! It's me, Shinichi. I've got a little problem here… Could you come over?"

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><p><em>AN: -cackles evilly- You should never leave them alone in a kitchen… Hope you liked this!_


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